In Real Life

In the final play of a trilogy that began with Pretty Fire and continued with Neat, In Real Life finds Charlayne Woodard pursuing her dreams in New York City. From early days as a stuggling actor to being nominated for a Tony Award, the harsh realities of Broadway are balanced by the unusual and comforting characters that touched her life.

Hamilton: The Revolution

Lin-Manuel Miranda's groundbreaking musical, Hamilton, is as revolutionary as its subject: the poor kid from the Caribbean who fought the British, defended the Constitution, and helped to found the United States. Fusing hip-hop, pop, R&B, and the best traditions of theater, this once-in-a-generation show broadens the sound of Broadway, reveals the storytelling power of rap, and claims our country's origins for a diverse new generation.

Travel back to a small Southern town where, before there was Duncan Motors, there were the Duncan brothers: Louis, aka Sweet Lou, a lover of ladies and life and a man you did not want to cross; Lawrence, aka Larry, a screw-up as attracted to trouble as it was to him; and Lavernius, better known as LC, the soft-spoken college boy who simply wanted to sell cars.

Dream says:"Where it all begins"

Audible Editor Reviews

Charlayne Woodard's full-length stage monologue of her youthful impressions of her retarded aunt Beneatha, who seems to have perished young when she tried to fly off a precipice, begins at an amazing pitch of energy, which she more amazingly sustains throughout. She enthralls the listener - as writer and performer - with consummate theatricality, expertly orchestrating tensions, rhythms, humor, and pathos. She manages to make experiences peculiar to middle-class African-American Baby Boomers seem familiar to Americans of other backgrounds. The overall excellence of this production almost completely obscures its flaws: a manipulative, sentimental script and a performance that almost tries too hard.

Publisher's Summary

In Neat, writer/performer Charlayne Woodard shares her memories of growing up black in America in the '60s and '70s. The play focuses around the life of Woodard's Aunt Beneatha, Neat, who was mistakenly fed camphor oil as a baby, resulting in permanent brain damage. Alternating between Neat's home in Savannah, GA and Albany, NY, where Woodard was raised, stories of family and of time spent with Neat are weaved together with touching results.

Neat is one of the best audible books I have listened to in years. Charlayne does an absolutely fantastic job of reading her own book. I have not laughed out loud so much when reading/listening to a book in forever. I am a member of a book club and I have the month of February (African American History month). I am the only African American in my book club and always choose February to add a little flava...to the line up. This will indeed be our February selection. I will encourage them to listen to it rather than read the book.
Good on you Charlayne. I am downloading another of yours immediatley.